Wiring fire, advice sought!

-
T

TimDart

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2005
Messages
359
Reaction score
31
Location
UK
Took the car down the road, a mile from home the car had complete electrical failure. Cruised to a halt, opened the hood to find flames coming from the bulkhead connector.
Got the car towed home and traced the source of the problem.
I need some advice to repair the circuit damge to get to the Nats next week.
1-What ampage wiring do i need to replace the thick red wire that runs from the starter relay to the bulkhead connector (and on to the ignition switch i presume)? This is the one that has burnt out.

2- What fuse or fusable link should also be fitted as that has burnt out.

3- Do the wires pull out of the bulkhead connector so i can replace the whole wire.

I do have the thread ref re-wiring to cut out the Ampmeter. In the short term I just want to gwt the car running for a major event next week.
 
Hi Timdart, Sorry to here your have a few problems. I had the same thing happen to me awhile back.

#1 Try to find out "why" firstly the reason for the short and; also due to your burnup re-check all the wires "other wires" besides for melted shelding.

#2 I believe it's 10 gauge. If your fusable link is now toast you should be able to get a link or in-line fuse from your nearest car parts store.

#3 Depending on your car, the connecter should come apart in 3 sections. Each section has a upper and lower push clip. Some are a *****...Many connecters have aged for the worst and shorts are of course always possible as you know. My short was caused by my Alt wire grounding from the manlfold (melted). The short caused the wire to melt & burn right to the ignition and relay. (DEAD STOP)

I found replacing the new wire run from relay to to the ignition was the EZest by pulling off the bay connector then pull out the spade pins. I then (re-drilled) a hole throught the complete connecter and just passed the new wire though...the pins were crap anyways.

This is just my imput or 2 cents..Good Luck to ya!

PS This may help somewhat.. http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
 
Wow, that is exactly what happened to my car yesterday! I have to blame myself for not noticing that the alternator wire had become slightly unclipped and dropped onto the manifold.
Always wiser with hindsight!
I have a friend who is an electrician coming 'round and we'll do as you suggest.
Just one question, does an in line fuse holder have the same rating/protection as a fusable link (30A, i'm thinking?).
thanks,
Tim
 
TimDart said:
Wow, that is exactly what happened to my car yesterday! I have to blame myself for not noticing that the alternator wire had become slightly unclipped and dropped onto the manifold.
Always wiser with hindsight!
I have a friend who is an electrician coming 'round and we'll do as you suggest.
Just one question, does an in line fuse holder have the same rating/protection as a fusable link (30A, i'm thinking?).
thanks,
Tim
Click to expand...

Tim, I'm not really sure off hand my friend...If I said yes it "might" be a lie! I do know you can get all kinds of in-lines with different amp ratings. You should be able to find one even from a car speaker place that sells amplifiers etc.
 
We use a 50 amp. maxi fuse in our harnesses. If you think about it there is alot of current that is going into the car on that wire. We have actaully upped the fuse to a 70 amp. Either one would work but I would definatly start to think about rewiring the car. I can with a 85% certainty tell you that your problems are not over even after you "fix" the problems that caused your fire. Sorry for the bad luck. Yours seems to be about as good as mine lately. Good luck getting it straightened out and if you need diagrams or anything let me know. You can email me at jhamner@painlessperformance.com and I will send them on to you .

Jason
 
Jason, thanks for the info. I only have a 30 amp in place currently. I have replaced the burnt wire and bypassed the bulkhead connector. I am using one of those in-line fuses as found on powerful car hi-fi systems.

The reason for the burnt out wire is very clear. The main power wire from the alternator cam adrift and burnt onto the exhaust manifold. This wire has been rerouted now. It shouldnt happen again, i have had no previous elctrical problems in the past 4 years.

Finally, what is a maxi-fuse? Is it different from other types of fuses.
thanks,
Tim
 
Thanks for the info and link,unfortunately i'm in England and need to fix the car quickly for a major trip.
I thought the idea of a fusible link was that it wont break/blow if there is a temporarey electrical spike. I'm concerned that if my fuse blows i'll be left without power in the middle of the road/highway!
Does the maxi-fuse have a similar delay function as the old fusible link?
thanks, Tim
 
It is still going to work like any other fuse. If it sees too much power going through it at any time then it will blow. That is one reason that fusable links are frowned upon no days. We have dealers over there in the UK. Check it out on our site. Your local parts store should have something that you can use. If you have to use the fusable link til you can get something to update it with.
 
Thanks for your time, jason. i'll check your links for UK contacts.
 
never under any circumstance should you ever put a protective device, IE fuse, circut breaker or fuseable link bigger than the amperage rating of your main wire that it is attached to. A ten guage wire cannot handle 50, 60, 70 amps and in result burn your system again without popping the fuse..
I've worked with dc for 16 years in control panels for generators and switchgear and have seen the results of this mistake. I've made the mistake and have paid the price. So for 10 guage wire you should run no more than 35 to protec your system,,, in fact when you get everything fixed and running good put an amp meter on your main feed while you have everyting on that you can possibly run and size your fuse/ circuit breaker to no more than 5 amps over what your pulling. I only say this to save you from anymore problems.






racy
 
Your typical 10 ga. wire is rated well over 35 amps. 10 ga. can be rated anywhere from 50 to 60 amps. The TXL wire that we use 14 ga. wire is rated at 35 amps. If the charging system was rated at 55 amps. which most were back then they wouldn't have used just one 10 ga. wire off of the alternator.
 
thanks i stand corrected i was thinking of 10 gauge in conduit with other wires, like i said i'm a control panel/ generator dc kinda guy but the rule still stands that you never oversize your fuse/cb over what the wire can handle....

thanks again bjs

racy
 
if you use a fusible link, you go up 2 sizes above the size of the wire. if you are using a 10 ga wire, use a 14 ga fusible link.
 
racyroy1 said:
thanks i stand corrected i was thinking of 10 gauge in conduit with other wires, like i said i'm a control panel/ generator dc kinda guy but the rule still stands that you never oversize your fuse/cb over what the wire can handle....

thanks again bjs

racy
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you so sorry for it coming across that way. Not a problem though. There are different grades of wire and the different grades can carry different amounts of current depending on the strand count in the wire. The higher the strand count in a wire the more current it can carry.
 
keith9291 said:
Is the fix at mad electrical the only way to fix this electrical problem?
Click to expand...

The problem comes from poor contact and that is usually caused by corroded contacts or dirt getting in them. It is the best and most solid way to fix the problem. Simply cleaning the connector and terminals will help prevent this problem but it is still a weak link in the system. All the current for the car flows through this wire. That is alot to ask of a terminal.
 
i saw an article a while back in MCG about redline doing some kind of fix where they replaced the guts with newer volt meter stuff.

I guess in doing this the terminal is still a weak link?
 
BJS racing said:
I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you so sorry for it coming across that way. Not a problem though. There are different grades of wire and the different grades can carry different amounts of current depending on the strand count in the wire. The higher the strand count in a wire the more current it can carry.
Click to expand...

no i realize you weren't attacking me,,,, I was wrong In my shop we run oversize wiring to have a safety zone, and we run wire in conduit which is why. I was thinking conduit amperage that we go by and was applying it to open air application. Once i looked in my ugly's book i realize you were right. Hey i'm man enough to eat crow and know when i'm wrong.

so no prob.
 
14 ga=15 amps
12 ga=20 amps
10ga=30amps
8ga=40amps
6ga=50amps
just a rule from elec code. Use thhn, it has better insulation. FUSE it!!!
 
yes redline will take the original voltage limiter and pull the points out and put solid state back inside, a capacitor on the outside and calibrate all the gauges. i have had a few gauge clusters done by them. well worth the money.
 
Guys, been away a few days. I cut out the bulkhead connector, fitted a 37A rated wire and fitted a slow burn fuse (not fusible link) rated at 60A. I also bought slow burn fuses rated at 30 and 40A.
I have had no problems since this partial re-wire job. However, slightly confused by different opinions being offered here. should I fit a lower than 60a fuse now?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top